The Corpulence (Perpendicular-4).Some questions!:What is the Corpulence? WHO is the Corpulence?
The largest corpse in the Forever Tree; the stinking dead body of the creator; a universe-in-death: the Corpulence is all these things, and more. The Sunsphinx officially list the Corpulence as a 'corpse-universe'.

As to who the Corpulence is, that's easy: He-who-is-now-Dead, he who was once known as the Worldfather. Once upon a time, the Worldfather was just a normal person in a mundane world, and then, for reasons even he could not comprehend, he Ascended and became omnipotent.

Unfortunately, omnipotent beings could not exist in his home universe, so, rather than die the Worldfather leapt into an inky nothing Beyond space/time and began to create. The Forever Tree is the Worldfather's great creation, pulled up from oblivion and given coherent form.

A 'universe-corpse'??!
Yes, an entire cosmos formed from a single stinking corpse.

What...or who...killed him?
No one, not even the Solar Lion, is entirely sure, though the Sunsphinx have several competing theories.

What could possibly live here??!
You'd be surprised. The Corpulence isn't just a festering corpse; inside its rotting interior is an entire gruesome universe---organs are galaxies, bones are wormholes, blood takes the place of water, corpse-gas is actually quite breathable---if rank as all Hell---and living things positively infest the entire body.

To be specific three kinds of sentient biological beings live in the Corpulence: beasts (uplifted animals who gained sentience by feasting on brain-tissue); humans (ta-daaa!); and xenogen (squamous insectoid horrors intent on devouring everything).

What about undead?
Undead are rampant in the Corpulence, and not just of the Starvampire variety. Beasts, humans AND xenogen undead exist in giant numbers, and seek only to spread their foul necrokinetic taint.

Who, or what, is the Flowering Beast?
A bizarre, beautiful, strangely symmetrical beast, with feathers and leaves and a razor-sharp beak, the Flowering Beast holds his Perpendicular's lesser godforge---a quantum lesser godforge, to be precise!

The Flowering Beast is a vastly powerful paragon, but he is also a pastiche of Marvel's Wolverine and Phoenix Force Jean Grey. Empowered by firewyld, the Flowering Beast's abilities are varied and many; he is the second-most-powerful Supermanalogue in the entire Forever Tree. Placeholder.

-//-\\-

Terminology for the Corpulence:beasts:
Uplifted animals, beasts share zero similarities with Earthly creatures. They are carrion-eaters, unkillable brutes, elegant assassins and terrifying monstrosities: with bodies at turns avian or insectoid, often adapted for sea-living, beasts are the stuff of Earthly nightmares.

smallskulls:
Skulls, shrunken down and equipped with an artificial memetic core, smallskulls are the necrotechnological equivalent of computers, both AI-equipped OR non-AI-equipped. Smallskulls are a universally-seen Device, within the Corpulence. Placeholder.

Surgery:
The act of inventing new Grafts is known as 'Surgery'.

Twists:
Humans mutated by exposure to organic radiation; superhumans. Deformed even by the worst standards of Earth-B's Tumors, Twists are regarded with suspicion by Purelines.

xenogen:
Placeholder.

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Lintuuu:Land of the Living Gods.terminology:worldwide lexicon.Ak:
A lifeless moon of Linntuuu, Ak is very volcanically active.

Aqu:
A lifeless, barren moon of Linntuuu. It is colored a deep, dark blue. Of note is the Tlolkku automated, AI-equipped observatory silently cataloging the events of all three Regions of Linntuuu.

the Ban:
For reasons as yet unclear, even to the brightest Sunsphinx minds, 99% of all Demimachinery shuts down and refuses to switch back on 'til the Demimachine is in another reality. This is referred to by dimensional travelers as 'the Ban'.

the Bowl of Uruku:
One of only three areas in the entirety of Linntuuu that can support life (the others being the Ultimate City and the World of Stone). The only sea in all Linntuuu, all godly civilization depends on this freshwater ocean to survive; as such, all the Urukine city-states and a great many barbarian tribes live on the shores of the Bowl of Uruku.

gods:
Animal-headed giants, gods are actually not immortal, omnipotent or omniscient. Still, generations of indoctrination have convinced most gods and mortals alike that gods really are divine! Gods dwell only in the Bowl of Uruku!

Gods live in the lap of luxury, but as each city-state viciously feuds with its neighbors, gods are frequently called upon to wage bloody war to prove their worthiness to rule. Gods tear apart other gods who show weakness.

When among the mortal masses, gods typically wear ornate stone helmets that metaphorically exaggerate the facial features of their animal kin. Many mortals believe to look on an unmasked god is to drop over dead from fright. (This is not true, but, again, people often believe it.)

Interestingly, should a geneticist ever get their hands on godly DNA from Perpendicular-2, they will discover an astonishing fact: it is protean unDNA, the same protean unDNA found on Earth-K and Earth-L!

In the World of Stone, however, gods have no political power, and're considered stupid, belligerent animals fit only for being hunted!

Gods do not exist in the Ultimate City.

Linntuuu:
The actual name for Perpendicular-2. Linntuuu has three moon's (Ak, Aqu and Loq), a medium-sized yellow sun, and ecosystems ranging from sparse forestland to harsh unforgiving desert wastelands. Both gods and mortals are native to Linntuuu, though gods rule as unchallenged tyrants within the Bowl of Uruku.

Loq:
The third moon of Linntuuu, Loq is covered in a thick, obscuring mist. Many mortals believe the titans retreated to this third moon and, will one day return.

mortals:
Humans. Mortals in the Bowl of Uruku are trod upon by gods, and are often little better than slaves. Still, in the Bowl of Uruku, opportunities for everyone---even humans!---abounds. From birth, mortals are taught to fear and obey the gods.

In the World of Stone, however, mortals are crushed under the bootheel by one of their own: the Everdying and Everliving Priest-God and his equally human Totemmen priesthood! The few gods that're here're treated as wild animals and're hunted for sport...

Mortals do not exist in the Ultimate City.

titans:
The mythical progenitors of gods and goddesses. Humungous sentient divine monsters, titans interbred with men, creating the first gods. Eventually, the titans...disappeared. The titans once dwelled in the Ultimate City.

the Ultimate City:
One of only three areas of the entirety of Linntuuu that can support life (the others being the Bowl of Uruku and the World of Stone). Titans once ruled all of Linntuuu from here, before the gods rebelled and cast their progenitors beyond the bounds of the world.

Gods lived here afterwards for nearly a century, before war between the Bowl of Uruku and the Ultimate City led to the Ultimate City’s abandonment.

the World of Stone:
One of only three areas in the entirety of Linntuuu that can support life (the others being the Bowl of Uruku and the Ultimate City). The World of Stone is a vast rocky badlands ruled over by a despotic God-King who fancies himself "the King of the World". Supported by a zealous and shamanistic priesthood, the World of Stone is harsh ---even by Linntuuu's standards--- and life is a grueling test of daily survival.
Placeholder.

-//-\\-

civilizations of Linntuuu:the Bowl of Uruku.the Golden Cities of the Sun:Based loosely on ancient Mesopotamia.
The humans of the Golden Cities of the Sun are bright, lustrous golden in coloration, with platinum-blonde hair. Seven cities belong to this culture, and're ruled by gods known as igigi.

eAku:Based loosely on pre-Roman Britain.
EAku is one of the oldest continually-inhabited human lands in the entire Bowl of Uruku. The eAkii are humans with deep orange skin and fiery red hair. They practice blood sacrifice and believe their leaders must be without physical blemish in order to lead.

Ruling over the eAkii are stag-headed and owl-headed gods known as the Eldest Hunters. Paceholder.

Ishfikaar Hod:Based loosely on the ancient Aztecs.
Despite being culturally only superficially similar, Ishfikaar Hod is clustered next to Ishfikaar Motlut and Ishfikaar Nalad. Placeholder.

Ishfikaar Motlut:Based loosely on the ancient Incas.
Despite being culturally only superficially similar, Ishfikaar Motlut is clustered next to Ishfikaar Hod and Ishfikaar Nalad.

Ishfikaar Nalad:Based loosely on the ancient Mayans.BLOOD FOR THE SUN! BLOOD FOR THE MOONS! This is the cry constantly resounding throughout the impossibly lush region surrounding the temple-city of Ishfikaar Nalad.

Despite being culturally only superficially similar, Ishfikaar Nalad is clustered next to Ishfikaar Hod and Ishfikaar Motlut.

Gods in Ishfikaar Nalad tend to be simians, cats and serpents. Placeholder.

Koshut:Based loosely on ancient Carthage, pre-Punic Wars.
A pair of massive and fortified city-states separated by a bridge over a river, Koshut is unified by way of religion, language and culture, and is a place where great evil lurks.

The city-state of Othyrysi is a militant den of tyranny and blatant corruption. Espousing a ‘pure’ warrior-ideal, in reality Othyrysi is full of bribery, nepotism and destructive blood-feuds. Othyrysi is ruled by Maalim (PL5/57pp; bee-goddess), who preaches one thing whilst doing another. Othyrysi’s gods are usually anthropods of all sorts not just insects.

The city-state of Tophet is a grumesone den of wickedness, as Tophet’s gods demand horrifying human sacrifices by immolation to appease their ‘divine wrath’. Tophet is ruled by Baalim (PL15/200pp; aurochs-god), who most sacrifices are offered to in great and terrifying rites. Tophet’s gods are usually aurochs, lions or serpents, but not always. Placeholder.

the Orichalcum Metropolis:Based loosely on the legend of Atlantis.
A single city-state culturally and ethnically distinct from all others, with blue-skinned humans and aquatic fish-gods, the Orichalcum Metropolis sits on an island in the center of the Bowl of Uruku and is quite the marvel to behold. The only city-state in the world with the knowledge to smelt iron, and the only city-state with sewers, toilets and the concept of regular bathing, the Orichalcum Metropolis is clean, orderly and actually smells nicely.

The gods of the Orichalcum Metropolis are universally based on aquatic animals, with non-aquatic Gods quickly being driven out at knife-point.

Ruling with an autocratic will is the All-Powerful (PL11/151pp aquatic god), a catfish-giant god of brutal power. The All-Powerful claims to be the literal father of his city's other gods, a claim said gods do not dispute.

the Papermakers:Based loosely on ancient Greece.
Consisting of three highly-advanced city-states---Deimos, Eris and Phobos---each a bastion of 'direct democracy', the Papermakers' gods are less-oppressive than elsewhere in the Bowl of Uruku.

Deimos is a city in love with war. In order to vote in the Assembly, you must be a god, a soldier or a retired soldier. Cowardice is seen as a TERRIBLE sin and which is punished harshly. The primary god of Deimos is iSfreae (PL11/151pp eagle-god), himself a veteran of over twenty conflicts.

Eris is unique as 9/10ths of its population is divine rather than human. The few humans here are merchants looking to profit off Eris’ immense wealth, or else are barbarians seeking a god to come and rule over them.

Papermakers gods are often goat- and ram-headed, and're noted for their musical talent and their wild revels. Goddesses are referred to as 'maenads', and are particularly savage, being exceptionally gifted musicians with an enormous tolerance for alcohol. Placeholder.

the People of the Black Sand:Based loosely on ancient Egypt.
The People of the Black Sand are an ethnicity of purple-skinned and utterly bald humans ruled by gods with the features of 'traditional' African animals, and're divided into 18 loosely allied city-states, known as the Cities of the Black Sands.

Pyramids are built not as tombs (as they were on various parallel-Earths), but as monuments to the gods' glory. Gods among the People of the Black Sands love to theologically associate themselves with the sun, the moons and the other planets orbiting Linntuuu's sun. This skygod element is very commonplace.

The city-state of Khemri is the most dominant City of the Black Sand, and is the only metropolis to have more than one pyramid nearby. Khemri is ruled by Pharaoh kRaa'h (PL10/177pp aerial god), a falcon-god with abundant golden jewelry and wealth seemingly without limit.

the Valhalliinne:Based loosely on the pagan Norse.
Nary a single city-state may be found in the lands of the nomadic Valhalliinne, and for good reason, for they are warriors, raiders and annihilators.

These gods are usually predatory animals. Placeholder.

-//-\\-

civilizations of Linntuuu:the Ultimate City.

-//-\\-

civilizations of Linntuuu:the World of Stone.druids:The priesthood of the World of Stone.
The vicious totemic priesthood upholding the God-King’s cruel reign of terror, druids are humans who have distant divine ancestry, being the many-times-removed descendants of gods and the gods’ human concubines. They wear human skin as ritual garments and possess necrotechnology that allows them to briefly gain the abilities of any sentient being they consume.

Druids are divided into Lodges, each Lodge built around the lineage’s founding god-ancestor. Thus, you have the Dog Lodge, the Hummingbird Lodge, the Mammoth Lodge and the Lion Lodge, among a great many others. Placeholder.

/-

mythology of Linntuuu:"In the beginning..." (the Bowl of Uruku)kAmun:A god.
A beetle-god; though he's been dead for nearly a millennia, kAmun is still worshipped in the Golden Cities of the Sun as the creator of the world.

mAlku:A goddess.
A butterfly-goddess; though she's been dead for centuries, the Papermakers still pray to her as a deity of love and fertility.

pSoldeen:A god.
The long-dead father of the All-Powerful of the Orichalcum Metropolis; such is pSoldeen's legacy that even now he receives massive yearly offerings. PSoldeen was a catfish-god like his son.

Uruku:A titan.
A fish-titan; the Bowl of Uruku is named after him. The Orichalcum Metropolis' All-Powerful claims descent from Uruku.

Urukutku:A titan.
The lion-bodied leader of the titans. According to myths, the other titans were either his siblings or his cousins (Urukutku's priesthood has only conflicting accounts of the Lion-Titan's life.)

/-

Apkallu operatives on Linntuuu:"Damnation, echoed across time..."
Apkallu divisions here are sharper and more bestial than elsewhere!Demon-Apkallu wear brass helms resembling the heads of hyenas, and're matriarchal carrion-eaters. Demon-Apkallu 'worship' a captive, incapacitated Starvampire 'god', whom they mutilate and eat giblets of bloody tissue, then feed blood to allow it to regenerate.Devil-Apkallu wear bronze helms resembling the heads of crocodiles, and're bitterly divided among five viciously-feuding 'temples'!Djinn-Apkallu wear copper helms resembling the heads of vultures, and are obsessed with necrokinesis. Paceholder.

Starvampires on Linntuuu:"Ghuls."
Placeholder.

Sunsphinx operatives on Linntuuu:"The eldest gods."the House of the Suncrocodile:
The House of the Suncrocodile is located in the Bowl of Uruku, in the city-state of Deimos.
Placeholder.

Aliens of Earth-B:The ceers ('seers').
So few in number as to be nearly mythological, ceers are physically frail, have millennia-long lifespans---AND possess Demimachine visors that allow ceer priests and 'Wizards' to see the distant future (albeit in heavily veiled symbolism), as well as other Demimachines permitting various non-physical psychic superpowers. Placeholder.

Aliens of Earth-B:The ifrit.
Once, the ifrit ruled eighty entire galaxies and were so mighty they held untold trillions of habitable planets.

But all that is gone, now. Ifriti society has been in a slow, creeping malaise, a lethargic decay the ifrit seemingly cannot shake themselves out of. Reduced to a bare handful of sovereign planets, the ifrit have littered the cosmos with abandoned ruins and discarded technologies.

They are in most Earth-B species' mythologies, however, as 'angels'---you see, the ifrit are only semi-corporeal and are quite powerfully pyrokinetic.

Aliens of Earth-B:The imwidaan.
The imwidaan are a civilization of superscientists and immortal researchers, but, unlike the Tlolkku, imwidaan have both consciences and ethics. Whereas the Tlolkku will do all sorts of horrible things to achieve their lust for insight, the imwidaan have a strict ethical code they strongly uphold.

Imwidaan have more superbeings than any Earth-B species, save for humanity. For millennia, the imwidaan have rested at the highest perches of power. But the arrival of mutantkind has thrown imwid culture into a tailspin. Placeholder.

the Moonscourt:The official religious body of the imwidaan.
The imwidaan are highly religious, but they do not believe in deities or supernatural beings---instead, imwidaan consider existence, itself, to be both beautiful and sacred, a non-theistic pantheist belief system that has guided them for centuries.

Aliens of Earth-B:The Indwelling.
The Indwelling are a symbiotic species of sentient alien beings, unique to the wider Earth-B universe. Creations of the ifrit, the Indwelling were used as psychic slaves and as living warmachines. But they later successfully rebelled, stole 100 ifriti starships and fled into deep space, where they remain, to this very same day.

The Indwelling have subspecies, known as castes: they have the divine caste, the magus caste, the mundane caste and the priestly caste. Unless on a harvest, these castes interact as little as is physically possible.

divine-caste Indwelling:The 'gods'.
The ifrit created the divine caste to be the leaders of the Indwelling. The Indwelling of the divine caste aren't genuinely deities, but the other castes worship them as such. Other caste ascribe godlike powers to the divine caste, powers the divine caste do not really have.

mundane-caste Indwelling:'Peasantry'.
The 'average' Indwelling are mundane caste, and are more or less barely sentient drones. Most Indwelling are of the mundane caste.

Mundane caste internal symbionts may merge after being expelled, allowing them to gestalt into larger and larger and larger forms. Non-sentient, they follow orders well and're used for unskilled labor of all sorts.

NO mundane caste Indwelling have superpowers. As a result, mundane caste Indwelling only have access to the superpowers specific to their race, as a whole.

priestly-caste Indwelling:The 'holy men'.
Made by the ifrit to be field officers and slave-bureaucrats, over the centuries this caste has evolved to hold chiefly religious duties, leading other Indwelling in worship of the divine caste.

Non-sentient, priestly caste internal symbionts look like little humanoids with transparent bodies and black-colored internal organs. They help their host body in everyday chores, but are themselves not terribly strong.

The Star Corps!What is the Star Corps?
The Sungods and Timewardens cannot be everywhere. Though the Sunsphinx have a noble goal, they've done very very questionable things in pursuit of said goal. Clearly, an independent force had to take up the slack and help out. This task was recently taken up by an ascetic higher-order entity and his champions, the Star Corps!

Who leads the Star Corps?Om, the Monk who Transcends Self is more of a mentor than a leader, but, still, it is he who ultimately gets things going. Note, however, Om is merely an avatar---a self-aware extension!---of the higher-order intelligence Aum, the Monk at the Center of All Existence and thus is actually less powerful than the other members of the Star Corps. (Then again, Om is not a field agent.)

What is the purpose of the Star Corps?
To maintain dimensional integrity throughout the Forever Tree. This includes the parallel-Earths, the Perpendiculars and most (if not all!) Resonances.

Wait a minute...isn't that the job of the Sunsphinx?
Indeed, it is. The Sunsphinx and the Star Corps work for two very different higher-order intelligences, space gods that have never gotten along, despite both entities being intensely devoted to the multiverse; as a result, Sunsphinx and Star Corpsmen do not get along, either.

It is, however, still a polite relationship, albeit one tinged with icy demeanor son both ends.

In the context of the Star Corps, what is a Genius?
A Demimachine, created by Aum (greater self of Om), to empower human agents with. Geniuses are 'mental machines' with no physical substance that're irrevocably bonded to a mundane human being at the sole discretion of Aum.

Each Genius has its own memetic core, into which is implanted a concept. This 'shapes' the Genius, though the machine's final configuration also depends of whom it bonds to. Once implanted, a Genius turns its host into an extremely powerful superhuman---albeit like none others throughout the multiverse.

Aum is very careful about handing out Geniuses, as the process, once begun, cannot be removed, even by death. When a Star Corpsman dies, his Genius dies with him, never to be seen again.

With the exception of Network, every other Star Corpsman (including Aum AMD his two avatars!) has a Genius. Nexus was already a superhuman, pre-recruitment, so sadly he could not bond with a Genius. While Om and his avatars have powers prior to awarding themselves Geniuses, they wrote 'loopholes' into the divine apparatuses allowing for exceptions, but only for Aum, the Homestead AND Om!

What other resources do Star Corpsmen possess?
Network. A Sunwitch from Earth-A and the only team member without a Genius, Network may transport Star Corpsmen throughout the multiverse AND link them telepathically.

Does the Star Corps have a headquarters?
Yes! Known as the Homestead, this HQ is a large-ish spacecraft that is also another avatar of Om. The Homestead is fully sentient, and exists full-time in the Earth-A universe's Andromeda Galaxy. The Homestead can send Star Corpsmen across the multiverse, but, unlike with Network, the Homestead cannot link agents' minds.

-//-\\-

Star Corps data:Star Corps Membership Roster:Aum (the Monk at the Center of all Existence):
PL19/1551pp. A third generation higher-order entity, a grandson of He-who-is-now-Dead and a nephew of the Solar Lion, ascetic Aum is a force for righteousness exceeded only by the imperiex, themselves.

Aum is larger than the entire Milky Way Galaxy, and is currently floating 'beneath' it simultaneously on Earths-A through N, Earth-Q and Earth-Z---areas Aum has taken a personal interest with. Merely seeing him is often enough to drive people mad, as Aum's immensity sinks in!

Fortunately, Aum is immaterial and therefore lacks any and all gravitational effects---which is ironic, as the Monk is a gravikinetic with virtually no equals. Aum may tear apart entire galaxies on a whim, and has done so in the past. Furthermore, Aum is powerfully telepathic.

Aum's Genius is 'Preservation in the Face of Armageddon'. It manifests as a supermassive black hole sitting like an apocalyptic inky obsidian diamond on Aum's forehead, right where his 'crown chakra' would be.

Aum is originally from Earth-G. He is a Thirdborn higher-order intelligence.

the Homestead (the Ship of the Forever-Horizons):Stats Writeup:Here!!!
PL15/300pp. The Homestead is the ship-avatar of Aum, the Monk at the Center of all Existence.

The Homestead's Genius is 'Travel, Learn and Grow by Doing What is Right'. His Genius materializes as a hull that can adapt to nearly any space-based phenomena.

Network:Stats Writeup:Here!!!
PL10/151pp. Originally from Earth-A, Network is the only Star Corpsman to not possess a Genius. A Sunwitch, Network stays all the time in the Homestead, using his superpowers on his team's behalf.

Network has two abilities: one, he may generate portals leading from parallel-Earth to parallel-Earth, and, with some effort, can even open portals to all six Perpendiculars; two, he may telepathically link himself to those who use his portals. Once established, this link may be broken only by Network, himself.

Om (the Monk who Transcends Self):Stats Writeup:Here!!!
PL12/200pp. A human-like avatar of Aum, Om manifests as a sleek, streamlined humanoid with ivory skin, obsidian hair and eyes that bear no pupils. Om is a telepath and a telekinetic, made even stronger by the Genius Scar Demimachine-staff he wields as his personal weapon.

Together with the Homestead (itself another avatar of Aum), Om has taken upon himself the task of creating a dimensional strike force independent on the Sunsphinx and the Solar Lion. For the most part, Om has been wildly successful (much to Aeion's disdain).

Om's Genius is 'Knowledge in Pursuit of Perfection'. It manifests as a staff (a 'Scar') that vastly enhances Om's baseline psionic prowess.

Aliens of Earth-A:The Apkallu.
The Apkallu are dealt with elsewhere in much more detail. They're spread, now, throughout the entire multiverse, but Earth-A is the home-universe of the Apkallu.

Generic Apkallu refers to all Apkallu, as a whole!
The Apkallu are victims of their own essential nature, as they are a highly instinctually telepathic species. For untold ages, the Apkallu delighted in spreading misery and suffering across the cosmos, and often pretending to be evil spirits whilst doing so.

-//-\\-

Demon-Apkallu

-//-\\-

Devil-Apkallu

-//-\\-

Djinni-Apkallu

/-

Aliens of Earth-A:The cyclopeans.
Terrible space-marauders long at war with Earth-A's Starvampires and Tlolkku, cyclopeans are huge, hulking brutes, barely sentient but with a savant-like super-genius when it comes to technology. Created long ago by a now-extinct alien species to fight for the liberation of the Earth-A universe, the dim cyclopeans continue fighting, LONG after their creators've faded into obscurity.

Cyclopeans possess total immunity to Starvampire-infection, but, as much as the Tlolkku would love this harness this power, cyclopean hyper-aggression and the cyclopeans' innate loathing of ALL things Tlolkku has thus hampered progress in this endeavor for millennia, now. Placeholder.

Greatvast dreamers are highly telepathic---but only with each other and with non-sentient cetaceans. The range of this telepathy is beyond huuuuge, able to cross upwards of a billion lightyears instantly in 'real-time'.

Aliens of Earth-A:Starvampires/Tlolkku.
The Tlolkku and their Starvampire 'cousins' are dealt with elsewhere in much more detail. They're spread, now, throughout the entire multiverse, but Earth-A is the home-cosmos of the twin subspecies..

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Most superhumans on Earth-B are mutants, with a few odd exceptions, here and there (such as the Orbitals or the maharajahs). We shall now take a closer look at Earth-B's sharply-defined superhuman 'species', and analyze each one in detail.

Earth-B mutants:Spawn of the Dream Moth.terminology:Echolake:Birthplace of the mutant race.
Once a thriving American metropolis with over 12 million inhabitants, Echolake was the site of the Dream Moth's Ascension and the Ectoplasmic Pollination; as a result, every single person in Echolake on that most fateful day were elevated to superhuman ('mutant') status. Placeholder.

Echolake Containment Zone:The ECZ.
Space/time change rapidly, and often without either rhyme OR reason. Past, present and future occur out of sequence, and the fundamental laws of reality become mere 'suggestions'.

The Olympians, a species of mutant, have the power to master the Echolake Containment Zone AND be bound by it at the same time. The ECZ is the Olympians' prison, but within that prison they may as well be gods. Placeholder.

Ectoplasmic Pollination:The apotheosis of the Dream Moth.
The Dream Moth, upon gaining his powers, discovered he had too much energy, and so he vented 99% of it into the surrounding city of Echolake. Known as the Ectoplasmic Pollination, this chaos-infused deed turned millions of ordinary citizenry into superhuman mutants.

-//-\\-

the Dream Moth:the Dream Moth, Father of All Mutants:He who is first.
The Dream Moth is Earth-B's imperiex, amongst a great many other things!

Where the Dream Moth's blood touches the soil, Leafs spring up, full-grown, from nothing; when his blood hits water, Atlanteans are generated; and when it splatters on unworked stone, new Heavenshadows spontaneously generate. Unfortunately for mutantkind, even the Dream Moth is unaware he has this power, as he's never been wounded, before!

The Dream Moth is not an Exemplar.

What few people (even his own closest supporters!) know is that the Dream Moth has more than one body, though he can only house his consciousness in one of them, at a time. These other bodies---'avatars'---live their own lives, their minds thin, fake shells meant to keep the body healthy 'til the day the Dream Moth needs it. The Dream Moth has dozens of avatars, all 'hidden in plain sight'.

-//-\\-

mutant species:Atlanteans:Fragile, delicate, mostly powerless and entirely aquatic (NOT amphibious).
Atlanteans are entirely aquatic. Apsu Atlanteans can only exist in freshwater; Tiamat Atlanteans may only exist in saltwater; and the rare Kingu Atlanteans can comfortably exist in either freshwater or saltwater.

Atlanteans bear many qualities similar to cnidarians, such as jellyfish and comb jellies, as well as many qualities similar to mollusks, such as sea snails and nudibranches. They are delicate and physically easy to injure. They breathe ONLY water, and cannot survive on land for any length of time.

Ironically, despite their fragility and powerlessness, the physically largest Earth-B mutant is an Atlantean (the Amoebic Sea [PL0/116pp; male Tiamat Atlantean]), not a Giant or a New Kaiju! The Amoebic Sea is also the Atlantean Exemplar.

Divided:Riders...and Steeds, one mind, two bodies.
The Divided are rather unique, in that their mutations are externalized in the form of sentient, superpowered 'mounts' known as Steeds. Riders are in constant telepathic/empathic communication with their Steeds, but're otherwise normal human beings.

The Steeds, on the hand, are loaded with superpowers of all sorts. Being utterly passive, however, Steeds must be directed by their Riders. Placeholder.

Lasher and Firemane (PL12/255pp; female Divided Rider with a fire-wreathed lion Steed) are the Divided's Exemplar.

The Geist Exemplar is the Haunted House on Mulbraer Street (PL9/200pp; male Geist trapped inside a creepy old mansion, to which he has now bonded to). Placeholder.

Giants:Gigantic, beautiful and STRONG.
Giants are, on average, the most powerful mutant-species on Earth-B. Gigantic, muscular, beautiful, immune to disease, poison and toxins, with genius intellects and immense strength (both of body AND of mind), Giants won the Ectoplasmic Pollination 'lottery', gaining the best of all possible results. Placeholder.

Heavenshadows:Fire and earth on the wings of the raptor.
Morphologically, Heavenshadows have a wide range of physiologies, but several commonalities are always present:

Heavenshadows are always winged and're always able to fly.

Heavenshadows' bodies radically transform into various metals, stone, gems, whatever you. This vastly increases their weight and, to a lesser extent, increases their brute strength. Note that this weight-increase doesn't necessarily indicate obesity. Though some Heavenshadows are, most are not.

And finally, Heavenshadows are hot. Not a reference to appearance, 'hot' for Heavenshadows literally means they're so hot to the touch they can set things on fire with very little fire. This doesn't actually mean the Heavenshadows are on fire, merely that they are glowing a hellish red and are extremely dangerous for the unwary to be around.

Hulkbeasts:Animal-ferals shorn of their sentience.
Hulkbeasts are, above all else, animalistic. Stripped of sentience but gifted with animal-themed superpowers, Hulkbeasts are wild and untameable.

Hulkbeasts gain considerable muscle-mass, and develop physical mutations heavily reminiscent of various forms of Earthly animals. They can be found in any ecosystem---including aquatic ecosystems!---and can be very VERY dangerous.

Monolith-1 (PL10/466pp; genderless Monolith) is the Monolith Exemplar. It wields epic control over dark matter AND dark energy. Plus, it is an astonishingly powerful telepath. Placeholder.

New Kaiju:Roving, cataclysmic annihilation.
Godzilla-scale monstrosities, New Kaiju are devoted to two activities: sleeping (which is most of the time!), or destroying entire cities (which, thankfully, is only RARELY).

Each New Kaiju is a unique gigantic destroyer, with powers and a physiology unique to that New Kaiju in question. Some New Kaiju are sentient, some are not. Some New Kaiju can be reasoned with; some cannot be reasoned with. Placeholder.

Gehenna (PL19/400pp; female nuclear-powered New Kaiju) is the Exemplar of the New Kaiju.

Olympians:Imprisoned godlings.
Olympians are trapped in the Echolake Containment Zone. Even the Dream Moth cannot free them. They will be dimensional captives for all eternity. But...in return...

...they are essentially omnipotent. Olympians' powers CANNOT affect anything beyond the borders of the ECZ, nor can they affect the physical or temporal location of the Echolake Containment Zone. Furthermore, their powers cannot function against the Dream Moth. But...other than that...reality within the ECZ is as potter's clay to the Olympians.

So, while the Containment Zone is, in a sense, holding the Olympians captive, it is a most pleasant captivity. Virtually omnipotent, every single Olympian has a variety of Variable-style powers: from Variable Power, itself, to Transform/Mental Transform, to Shapeshift, to Nemesis and beyond!

Olympians are one of the few superhuman 'types' not to have an Exemplar.

Thralls:The Purity's feral weapons of mass destruction...!
So far, only Heavenshadows and Tumors've been transformed into Thralls; in theory, however, the process would even work on Leafs and Olympians!

Thralls have no Exemplar. Placeholder.

Tumors:Deformed, but powerful.THE most common type of Earth-B mutant. Tumor powers are all other the place and can be virtually anything, but they lack flexibility, and tend to be highly focused. Furthermore, all Tumors've undergone serious physical mutations---even if said Tumor's powers're entirely non-physical in nature!

However, not all deformities are the same:

Benign Tumors are the lucky ones: their mutations, while perhaps strange or otherworldly, do not detract from said Tumor's attractiveness. Benign Tumors are the rarest kind of Tumor.

The Benign Tumor Exemplar is Shining Childe (PL10/241pp; female Benign Tumor geokinetic), a miniaturized, porcelain-doll-like being with immense power over sand, dust, silt and loose stone.

Cyst Tumors' deformities have rendered them crippled. These are the unluckiest Tumors, as being superpowered comes with severe frailties. Nevertheless, some Cyst Tumors've risen far, indeed; the Dream Moth's personal assistant, for example, is a Cyst Tumor.

The Cyst Tumor Exemplar is Plaguedog (PL0/13pp; male dog-like Cyst Tumor), whose body is riddled with crippling infirmities and perpetual ill-health. Nevertheless, Plaguedog is the personal assistant to the Dream Moth, making Plaguedog one of the most influential Earth-B mutants to've ever lived!

Malignant Tumors are the 'average' Tumor: heavily mutated, but not cripplingly so. Still, Malignant Tumors're hideous by most human standards. 90% of all Tumors are Malignant Tumors.

The Malignant Tumor Exemplar is Wolfmother (PL14/270pp; genderbending wolf-feral); normally, Wolfmother is a normal human man, but, at night, he transforms into a female wolf-like humanoid with stunningly poisonous quills and dander that can blind nearly anyone!

Artist's Rendering (PL20/666pp; genderless Metastacized Tumor 'living hallucination') is the Metastacized Tumor Exemplar; it has only the most minimal corporeality, but is such a powerful illusion-weaver it can engulf the entire world, for short periods of time.

/-

Origins of the Various Subspecies of Mutants:
There is some considerable speculation among Earth-B's scientists as to WHY the Ectoplasmic Pollination created such distinct and viable lineages of mutants. Though this research is still in its infancy, the truth of the matter is quite simple: at Ectoplasmic Pollination, you became more of what you already were, in terms of goals, personality and motivation! Ectoplasmic Pollination simply 'divvied up' the inhabitants of Echolake into 'categories', and empowered them, that way.

Atlanteans:
Atlanteans were created by warping people who loved water, swimming, boating, etc., giving them the freedom they'd always unknowingly desired.

the Divided:
Those with a strong love of and appreciation for wildlife often became the first Divided. Also, those in the farming industry as well as K-9 Unit policemen metamorphosed into the first Divided.

Geister:
Those who were 'invisible' in day-to-day life---janitors, orderlies, the homeless---often became Geister.

Giants:
Those people with supreme self-confidence---and yes, sometimes arrogance---were often transformed into the first Giants. As virtually everyone harbors doubts and self-criticisms, extremely few Giants emerged from the Ectoplasmic Pollination!

Heavenshadows:
The highly religious often became the first Heavenshadows, as did a great many devotees of secular causes, such as animal rights, LGBT equality, feeding starving nations, etc.

Hulkbeasts:
Those with an abiding love for and appreciation of wildlife sometimes became the very creatures they so admired. Also, many sociopaths degenerated into Hulkbeast-status.

Leafs:
Truly kind, generous and humble citizens of Echolake became the first Leafs, and it shows. Leafs are universally a happy, tolerant, pleasant race of ittybitty plant-people, and their Seeds are borne of the desire to help others.

Mentats:
Fully half of all mentally ill people in Echolake became Mentats, but not all the original Mentats were mentally ill---they merely became so after the Dream Moth's Ascension. Other Mentats came from neo-pagan religions, New Agers who honestly believed in what they said and people obsessed with certain artforms ALSO became Mentats!

Monolithic:
Monolithic were not directly created by the Ectoplasmic Pollinatiom, no, they are the result of The Purity's greatest military blunder, an unstoppable force The Purity, themselves, helped generate!

When the Mutation Wars reached their peak, the newly-formed Purity smuggled a q-Flower warhead into the pro-mutant city of La's Vegas...and detonated it. While the city was demolished, 12 Tumors within Vegas city limits were inexplicably transformed, swelling up to colossal size. They turned to black stone and slowly lost their mobility---until, at last, they came to a halt.

Now cosmic-entities-in-gestation, Monolithic may be utterly immobile but still possess unbelievable psychic power, including an inability to die. However, Monolithic are sterile, so are doomed to slow extinction.

New Kaiju:
People with anger issues, the criminally insane, gangland thugs---these were the rootstock from which the New Kaiju arose.

Olympians:
Lunatics, supremely arrogant people and those in positions of great authority in pre-Ectoplasmic Pollination Echolake became Olympians (though this is not universally so!).

Oneirics:
Dreamers, idealists, the mentally ill, scientists/inventors: a great many of these had their bodies die, but their memetic cores ('souls') continue on as Oneirics! Freed of physicality, Oneirics may now infinitely indulge in the unrestricted imaginings that once predominated their human lives!

Thralls:
Thralls were not made by the Dream Moth. No, The Purity will capture a mutant they find useful, irregardless of mutant subspecies, and will subject these poor bastards to horrifying regimens of cybernetic surgeries, torturous brainwashing sessions and forced addiction to dozens of chemical cocktails.

What was captured was a mutant...what comes out again is a Thrall, a cyborg deathmachine with the desire only to kill non-Thrall mutants.

Tumors:Everyone has doubts. Everyone has insecurities, weaknesses and flaws. It from these flawed subjects that the first Tumors were created. As one might imagine, this meant Tumors outnumbered all other mutants by a huge margin.

/-

A Greater Discourse on Leafs:
Leafs are small. VERY small. They have no Strength or Constitutiom scores to speak of and die at the slightest injury inflicted by a greater being. Their powers are interesting, but of such negligent scale as to be irrelevant. And their Seeds? That can be interesting.

Leafs are NOT treated as full characters, in terms of game mechanics. They are usually PL0 and are built on absurdly low pp totals. So: how do you stat them up?

Leaf creation rules:
Leafs have no Strength or Constitution scores. They automatically fail all Toghness rolls inflicted by anything larger than they are. They have immunity to disease and poison, but otherwise fail all Fortitude saves.

Leafs are surprisingly quick, despite being so small. They're also notoriously hard to actually hit. As such, Leafs have both Dexterity scores and Reflex saves.

Leafs may not possess any combat feats, save for those that let them dodge or otherwise make them harder to hit. Leafs are pacifists on a genetic level and the idea of hurting anyone is anathema to them.

Leafs are photosynthetic. Leafs live twice as long as the average human, averaging at about 160 years. Leafs do not give birth, they plant embryos in the dirt and "grow" them into the world with water, sunlight and soil. Nevertheless, Leafs otherwise create new life 'the old-fashioned way'. Leaf babies are referred to as 'sproutlings'.

Every Leaf embodies a species of plant or fungus, though they are not individually unique. (In other words, there can be more than one Leaf incarnating the traits of a specific plant or fungus species.) Thus, there are cactus-Leafs, pea-pod-Leafs, hops-Leafs, four-leaf-clove-Leafs...and many more!

And then...there are the Seeds.

Leafs and their miraculous Seeds:
To be blunt, Seeds, if planted and carefully nurtured, eventually bloom into literal miracles. The more Seeds devoted to a single planting, the bigger and stronger the miracle will be.

In game terms, each Seed allows the Leaf in question one use of Variable Power ? (any number of traits at once of the 'Joyous Miracle' descriptor; Extras: Duration [continuous]; Flaws: Permanent). At one Seed, this effect is at 1 rank. With two Seeds, this effect is at 5 ranks. With three Seeds, this effect is at 12 ranks. With four seeds, this effect is at 15 ranks. At five Seeds, this effect is 16 Ranks. And with all six Seeds, it is a whopping 20 ranks!

You cannot force a Leaf to use his or her Seeds; doing so renders the Seed powerless. This includes blackmail, Mind Control/Possession, even threatening their loved ones.

Furthermore, the effects Seeds generate must be happy, joyful and loving; a Seed cannot kill, but it can heal. And so on.

Though most ARE mutants, not ALL of the superhumans of Earth-B are mutants. 'Oddities' have always existed, such as the Suntitan, while other types of non-mutant superhumans are the result of interbreeding with aliens or harnessing one's latent psychic potential.

However, most 'oddities' honestly believe they, themselves, ARE mutants, and're categorized as such..

-//-\\-

fully human non-mutant superhumans:mahahrajahs:Non-mutant psychics, rarer than rare.
Psychics, mahahrajahs may not be mentally ill (few are), but they are substantially weaker psychics than Mentats or certain Tumors.

As to the origins of mahahrajahs, that lies firmly at the feet of the now-dead Suntitan. Though a paragon, the Suntitan's powers were psychic in nature and function. Over his multicentury-long life, the Suntitan sired a great many offspring---primarily in the Indian subcontinent, but also in places across Southeast Asia.

Mahahrajahs are rarer than rarer than rare---with only a few hundred spread thinly 'cross the world---and most are easily mistaken for Mentats.

Orbitals:The chosen warriors of the Orbital Man....the Orbital Man...
The Orbital Man (PL9/223pp male Benign Tumor paragon) is a mutant paragon Benign Tumor trapped in orbit above Earth. He may psionically reach down and give his powers to mundane human avatars, up to 12 of them. Known as 'Orbitals', these faux-mutants each gain an exact copy of 1/12th of the Orbital Man's powers.

As a result, each Orbital has a fraction, or subset, of a paragon's power to call their own. One will have super-senses; one will fly and survive in space; one is virtually indestructible---and so on...

The Orbital Man can easily take this gift away; furthermore, Orbital-status is not hereditary. However, for the duration of their empowerment, Orbitals can be detected as if they WERE mutants.

Though highly psionic, without imwid objects known as Foci, these abilities cannot be consciously tapped---however, in life-or-death situations, subconscious need has erratic power-functioning without Foci.

Maze-people have no Exemplar, as they're not entirely human. Placeholder.

nephilim:Human/spirit hybrids.
Nephilim are half-human/half-thoughtform, and're always giant in stature irregardless of any OTHER powers they may---or may not!---possess.

No nephilim has ever been subjected to Thralldom---however, despite not being mutants, the procedure would work well with nephilim subjects.

Nephilim have no Exemplar, as they're not entirely human. Placeholder.

-//-\\-

unique superhumans:
Only two exist. One --- the Suntitan! --- is already dead by this point and another --- Mage --- has yet to make herself known.

Mage:Wielder of a psi-active 'powered-armor' wearable thoughtform.
PL10/150pp. Of uncertain origin even to herself, Mage is a unique superhuman able to conjure, hollow out and 'wear' various kinds of thoughtforms. Theoretically, this means endless possibilities; in reality, Mage has ten Alternate Forms in a single array---beyond this, Hero Point expenditure is a necessity. Placeholder.

the Suntitan:Earth-B's first superhuman.
Placeholder.

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Mu:Once, there was only one city and all the world was full of men who were little better than animals. Mu, it was called, the City, the One Heart of the world. The Skyclaw rent the heavens and men-who-were-beasts became men-who-are-spirits. The Skyclaw left and returned to its mysterious wanderings above the sight of men, and the men-who-are-spirits looked at the world with new eyes.

From a mysterious cave emerged the Fathers:
The Ever-Possessed, a shaman against his own will.
The Far-Sighted Elder, who could see with the eyes of the birds in the sky.
The Female Shaman, who had magic to heal with.
The Great Warrior, without magic but mighty, nonetheless.
The Male Shaman, for whom fire was his obedient pet.
The Queen of the Great Waters, whose hunger knew no end.
The Shatterer of Stones, who sees the flaws in all things.
The Storyteller, who had no flesh at all.
The Unclean Shaman, ridden by an evil spirit.
The Warrior, whose enemies made him stronger as he fought them.

The Fathers emerged from the cave and looked about the land and were displeased with what they saw. The Fathers taught men many things: making the earth fertile; the taming of wild beasts; the shaping of tools; and a great many other things, besides.

But then came the Many, and the sky burned, and the Fathers retreated back into the earth from which they had sprung. Mu, so young, so vital, so glorious, became as ash. But the Fathers in their wisdom prophecied the eventual return of the Skyclaw. So, the Sons of Atalan bid themselves wait...and watch...and prepare.

Mu was the first superhuman community on Earth, albeit in prehistory. The citizens of Mu were referred to as Elohim. Mu wasn't really a city, merely a glorified village. Still, Mu's people knew they'd been blessed by 'the Skyclaw' and believed themselves to be spirits-in-flesh.

Mu was ruled by a chieftain named Atalan, who had several grown sons and daughters before the Green Star worked its protean 'sorcery' on him. Known as the Sons of Atalan, they kept Mu's traditions alive, for millennia!

When the Many demolished Mu, only a single Elohim managed to escape, by way of his utter immortality: the Many just couldn't kill him, so they eventually gave up and decided to let him be.

At-Lan-Tuu:
The citizens of At-Lan-Tuu were known as Anunnaki. Placeholder.

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The Anunnaki: Starbeast enhanced with Heavenfoods.The Ancient Staggod:Crunch Writeup:Here ye go!Long ago, the Hand of Anu smote the sky and men were struck with godhood. They rose up and made themselves as mighty kings. They built for themselves a city---At-Lan-Tuu---and ruled all lands under the blue sky.

Ea was the sage and priest of Anu and he knew many hidden things, secret ways of knowledge hidden to mortal men. He made heavenwine and heavenbread; to the beasts he fed them, and the beasts became as gods. All tribes paid tribute to At-Lan-Tuu and all was well.

Then came the Many, the hordes from beyond the sky. The Many brought magic and fire and monsters and fought against the gods. Long was the struggle but the gods threw back the Many and cursed their faces.

But At-Lan-Tu was as ruin, and many gods had died. Then war came again to the House of Anu, and god slew god. Some gods fled east and left our knowledge. Of those that remained in the great ruins, only the Ancient Staggod remained. He gazed about his tumbled home and wept.

For a time he slept and for a time he wandered. But the Hand of Anu has come again and gods are born once more...

Originally a non-sentient Starbeast, the Ancient Staggod regained sentience AND gained nigh-unlimited cosmic majesty after being fed MASSIVE amounts of Heavenbread and Heavenwine.

"It Is Time. New Gods Rise. I Will Shepherd Them."

A "benevolent" En Sabah Nur. "Staggod" is pronounced "Stag God", as if it were two separate words.

The Ancient Staggod is not PLX. However, he is built on so many points with such a high PL as to be ridiculous. He is a cosmic entity, a force of nature. Thankfully, the Ancient Staggod never becomes directly involved, always working through minions, agents and pawns. (Thus, the PCs are not overshadowed by this particular NPC.) However, the Ancient Staggod will defend himself, and woe upon the fool who battles him!

-//-\\-

The Anunnaki: Mortals enhanced with Heavenfoods.Charybdis:The left hand of the Ancient Staggod.Crunch writeup:
PL5/141pp. Most humans cannot benefit from Heavenfoods; but Charybdis and Gyre are notable exceptions, as they were genetically engineered in an artificial womb to do so. Charybdis is the twin sister of Gyre.

Charybdis is functionally immortal and is a vestigial telekinetic, with powerful empathic gifts. She is the Ancient Staggod's herald, announcing his will to those he deigns to appear before. After countless millennia, Charybdis' loyalty to the Ancient Staggod is absolute and unbreakable.

Gyre:The right hand of the Ancient Staggod.Crunch writeup:
PL9/141pp. Most humans cannot benefit from Heavenfoods; but Gyre and Charybdis are notable exceptions, as they were genetically engineered in an artificial womb to be able to do so. Gyre is the twin brother of Charybdis.

Functionally immortal, Gyre is a vestigial telepath and is also capable of spinning faster than the speed of sound. Gyre is the Ancient Staggod's bodyguard, and his loyalty to his master is beyond mere obedience.

The Anunnaki: Would-be "sun-god".Re-Atum:Crunch writeup:
PL12/131pp. Re-Atum is a Starborn. An Egyptian of Arab descent, Re-Atum is a Gnostic Christian "mystic", who has dabbled greatly with Sufi traditions and beliefs. An orator and self-proclaimed "holy man", the Muslim authorities tolerated him as a harmless madmen...that is, until Green Star dust empowered him and made him into a living sun.

Re-Atum's powers are simple: he shines so brightly he may blind; he burns so hot he melts Damascene steel; and he eats pre-existing fires to temporarily make himself stronger.

Re-Atum found himself the first medieval convert to the philosophies of the Ancient Staggod. Though a fierce monotheist, Re-Atum's Gnostic beliefs have allowed him, mentally, to adapt to his master's "Starborn-as-divine" party line.

"It is a pity you cannot yet see my master's truth. But God willing, you will."

Imagine the Human Torch with the mindset and beliefs of Dr. Strange (albeit without any genuine magic): this is Re-Atum.

What is a Carapace?
A Carapace is a suit of Demimachine powered-armor. Created billions of years ago by the now-extinct multiverse-spanning iron dreamer species, originally of Earth-X, Carapaces are so valuable other species've gone out of their way to preserve---and create new varieties!---of them. Placeholder.

Who---or what---makes Carapaces?
The iron dreamers, as mentioned above. Ironically, iron dreamers' automated facilities continue to churn out the component-parts for more Carapaces. Nowadays, however, such facilities are now held by other species/civilizations! Placeholder.

What powers a Carapace?
This varies, but it typically is icewyld, a much-less-pure but easier-to-generate version of firewyld. Starryfire is also used, albeit rarely. Placeholder.

What types of Carapaces are there?
Placeholder.

Deathcarapaces:
It was inevitable that bloodtechnology would one day figure out how to reverse-engineer a Carapace...and the result are Deathcarapaces, the weakest model of Carapaces, but also the most easily crafted.

Made of cloned vampire remnant skin and cloned Vampirebrute muscle, bulky Deathcarapaces have one and only one real function: STRENGTH. A Deathcarapace magnifies the wearer's raw physical mighty, turning a nerd into a brick with ease.

But...there is a price, as there is with ALL bloodtechnology, though only the living must pay it. Thusly: for every seven days/nights a living being wears a Deathcarapace, they lose one entire year off their total life expectancy. This never is apparent until the moment of death: eventually...a living wearer will simply fall over dead from a sudden case of extreme old age.

Necromantic powered-armor, in essence!

Demigod-Carapaces:
A Demigod-Carapace is a Carapace built directly by the iron dreamers; as such, it is very, very very mighty powered-armor. Only one Demigod-Carapace was ever forged. Placeholder.

As epic as powered-armor gets (save for those worn by cosmic entities, higher-order intelligences and imperiex.

Enigma Carapaces:
An Enigma Carapace---of which only seven remain---does not, in and of itself, possess any powers of its own. Instead, an Enigma Carapace amplifies the wearer's own qualities, skills and powers, vastly increasing these traits.

Sol Invictus---the Forever Tree paragon!---was once only of middling power, 'til he donned an Enigma Carapace. (That he later plugged in a Distort made Sol Invictus even stronger.)

Mind Carapaces:
A type of Carapace made by the Old Giants of Earth-E, a Mind Carapace has one function: to stimulate and promote the rapid growth of psionic powers. Mind Carapaces have little to enhance physically, but the wearer's mentality is VASTLY increased.

Psi-generating powered-armor.

Skin Carapaces:
Also made directly by the iron dreamers, a Skin Carapace is more akin to a liquid than a solid. It coats the wearer like a second skin, and can even be worn nude. (No other Carapaces are quite as skintight [pardon the pun!] as Skin Carapaces!) Only a small handful of Skin Carapaces've survived down the millions of years of their existence.

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World-Ending Threats:Perpendicular-1.Lullutulul.Ashmoggu the Earthbull:
Crunch Writeup:
PL17/400pp. A vast mechanical artifice infested with the consciousness of a demon-Apkallu, Ashmoggu the Earthbull is the greatest enemy the Stormlord has ever had. A towering bull-shaped machine, made of iron cogs, heavy brass slabs and pulleys made of nanite-strengthened human tendons, Ashmoggu tramples all who opposes him. Placeholder.

ASHMOGGU THE EARTHBULL SMASH!

...basically, Ashmoggu in a single sentence, really.

World-Ending Threats:Perpendicular-2.Linntuuu.KArcaz the Devourer of Skulls:
Crunch Writeup:
PL16/200pp. A locust-headed goddess, kArcaz the Devourer of Skulls is the most terrible of Linntuuu's deities. An insectile horror, she and her Swarm rarely leave the Ishfa Wastes...but when they do, all the Bowl of Uruku trembles in terror. KArcaz is one of the most savage warriors on Linntuuu, and she believes only the STRONG deserve to survive. And she intends to test the strong...and to devour those who fall!

Imagine Marvel's uber-Social Darwinist villain Apocalypse, except reimagined as both without powers and re-tooled for a swords'n'sorcery setting...

World-Ending Threats:Perpendicular-3.Welrul and its seven planets.M’ressu and the Thirteen Destroyers:
Crunch Writeup:
PL15/280pp; thirteen PL12/200pp 'lesser bodies'. A single alien consciousness residing primarily in one central body, but extending somewhat into thirteen lesser-powered bodies, M'ressu and the Thirteen Destroyers are obsessed with discovering the secret of Welrul and stealing ultimate power for themselves.

M'ressu, the primary body, is PL15/280pp. It is a genderless robot hosting a disembodied alien consciousness within its otherwise-empty AI-core. Highly psychic, M'ressu also boasts some degree of mechamorphing skills.

Oblivion, the collective name for subsidiary bodies 1-5, are all potent bricks with reactive shapeshifting superpowers.

Nox, the collective name for subsidiary bodies 6-9, are all precognitive superspeedsters.

Umbra, the collective name for subsidiary bodies 10-13, are all pyrokinetics/cryokinetics, manipulating both fire AND ice as they see fit.

World-Ending Threats:Perpendicular-5.Llengg.the Occult Priestwizard of the Seventh Sign, His Dread Parasitism Maughu, King of Llengg:
Crunch Writeup:
PL13/200pp. A tcho-tcho high priest of the mad god Hastur, Maughu is wreathed in strange, insectile gadgetry more alive than inert, each piece of gear hosting the stolen memetic core of a long-dead superhuman. From their torment, Maughu may enhance his normally feeble physicality to city-smashing levels of epic destruction.

Few beings are as actively malevolent as Maughu, but then, he is not from the Forever Tree, having entered this multiverse by way of the Azathoth-gate. Maughu's dreams are alien and incomprehensible and sanity-defying---and his intentions are pure, concentrated wickedness!

As King of Llengg, Maughu has endless amounts of bizarre, non-Euclidian technologies and impossible-to-even-exist wonders to draw upon. He may also rely on the realm's deep ones, as Dagon, the deep ones' high priest, is sworn to Maughu's service. One thing is for certain: fighting Maughu is a nightmarish experience for any superhero!

(Note: despite his title, Maughu is not actually a spellcaster. His own views on his title cannot be adequately expressed using any human language yet invented.)

Ia! Ia! Magwag'l irfigqu fhthaghn!

World-Ending Threats:Perpendicular-6.Aeion.the Lunar Lion:
Crunch Writeup:
The Solar Lion has a secret, a secret that he goes to great pains to conceal. As he was the first space god to connect himself to the Weavery in order to regain his immortality, the Solar Lion had to do it on his own, without aid or guidance. And...so...there was...unexpected results.

The Solar Lion's shadow shadow came to life, and it acquired a destructive personality to mirror the Solar Lion's natural urge to build and create and sustain. Calling himself the Lunar Lion, this fell higher-order intelligence simply went back into his 'sire's' shadow...where sometimes, while his 'father' isn't looking, this evil doppelgänger slips away to do great mischief.

The Lunar Lion has the exact same game stats as the Solar Lion, but all 'Sunlight' and 'Sun' descriptors are instead turned to 'Moonlight' and 'Moon' descriptor effects. Furthermore, all 'Firewyld' descriptor effects shapeshift into 'Icewyld' descriptor effects.

The Solar and Lunar Lions cannot hurt each other, as they are immune to each others' powers.

The Solar Lion really is his own worst enemy...

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Cosmic Entities:Neutral cosmic entities.
...however, "good" and "evil" are often seen as worthless conceptualizations by those who stand astride whole galaxies. Here are three cosmic entities that don't care a single whit about "good" and "evil":The Bringer of Fire:The goddess of fire.Crunch Writeup:
PLX/3340pp. The imperiex of the Green Star universe, as well as the greatest pyrokinetic in the Green Star universe. The Bringer of Fire is fire; at her command, stars ignite or die; galaxies spin off their axies, and gamma ray bursters scourge whole sectors of life. She is also a powerful telepath and potent telekinetic, but the fire is, and always will be, her greatest talent.

The Bringer of Fire is an ascended Stonebuilder, but she feels no loyalty to her people or their legacy: no, she is content to indulge, creating or destroying at whim. "Good" and "evil" are irrelevancies to she who can forge or break asunder galaxies.

The Bringer of Fire watches events on Earth from her "throne" on the sun's surface. Serving her are humans-turned-thoughtforms known as the luminscent sages.

The Mediating Voice-of-Two:The greatest unleashed mind of all.Crunch Writeup:
PL18/510pp. The greatest telepath in the Green Star universe, the Mediating Voice-of-Two is actually a dual being: a non-sentient behemoth without a functioning brain, and a purely psionic thoughtform that permanently "pilots" the above-mentioned ur-beast.

His body obsessed with violence but his mind a thing of peace and tranquility, the Mediating Voice-of-Two continually walks the line between utter hypercarnage and serene inaction. In fact, so divided is he on this matter that these are the ONLY two emotional states he is even capable of!

The Mediating Voice-of-Two carefully observes the drama on Earth by serreptitiously tapping into the Many's Q-lines, from his home in the Andromeda Galaxy.

The Sky Machine:The storm of storms.Crunch Writeup:
PL18/550pp. The greatest robot weather controller in the Green Star universe, the Sky Machine is an Architect superweapon. Fitted with a massive quantity of L-imbued psicrystals, controlled by an AI modeled off the brain of Ancient-Supreme Glorianna Lux, and devout to the cause of the Great Imperium, the Sky Machine is a ruthless destroyer.

Strangely, the Sky Machine has never been deployed during the first two Earthly Purgings, despite the obvious advantages of doing so...

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Cosmic Entities:Good cosmic entities.
Several alien entities of vast power exist, known as "cosmic entities". By definition, a cosmic entity is a superbeing of truly epic proportions. While the Ancients have done their best to suppress any future cosmic entities they cannot be everywhere and thus some slip through the cracks and ascend to genuine immortality.

Only one human has ever become a benevolent cosmic entity---the Ancent Staggod. Despite his vast powers, Michael Archangel is still bound by an upper limit to what he can achieve. Thus, all other cosmic entities are aliens.

Cosmic entities are NOT PLX (a trait only held by imperiex throughout the wider multiverse)---instead, they have stats so high as to be beyond ridiculous. Cosmic entities' powers are thus bounded, though those bounds may be galactic in scope!

Here are three Green Star universe benign cosmic entities:The Beautiful Living Gardenbeing:The god of plantsCrunch Writeup:
PL17/599pp. The ultimate plant-entity, the Beautiful Living Gardenbeing is an ascended Stonebuilder. Though as giant as all his kind, the Beautiful Living Gardenbeing is an effeminate beauty, slender and androgynous and delicate, with leaves instead of hair and talons made of fossilized bark.

Able to manipulate the Godgardens of Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri, the Beautiful Living Gardenbeing is a nigh-omnipotent biokinetic.

The Shifting Beast of Many Moons:Greatest synthbeast of all time.Crunch Writeup:
PL22/1003pp. The ultimate lycanthrope, the Shifting Beast of Many Moons is THE greatest creation of dzun synthbeast manufacturer Dlel Hteeiin. As synthbeasts are congealed dataplasm mixed with dashes of controlled, distilled ectoplasm, they are theoretically capable of doing anything. Though most synthbeasts have neural blockages preventing full access to such power, the Shifting Beast of Many Moons was explicitly designed without those same blockages!

As a result, the Shifting Beast of Many Moons ("the Shiftbeast") may assume the form of any animal, even extinct ones, found throughout the entire universe; furthermore, it may assume humanoid "hybrid"-forms of every single one of these animals. (Interestingly enough, this also now includes any non-sentient Starbeast!)

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Unique superbeings:
A total of 9 superhumans on Earth that're utterly unrelated to any other "kinds" or "breeds" exist: one, the Clockwork Goddess, is mentioned above.

The other 8 however, are not to be found in Africa, Asia or Europe, instead being singular wonders of their Earthly regions. Until recently, all 9 stayed hidden for a variety of reasons, but the third passage of the Green Star and the rebirth of Starbeast and Starborn has provoked an end to this seclusion...

Africa:The Clockwork Goddess:
See elsewhere.

-//-\\-

Australia and New Zealand:
Australia:Urgrund, the Rainbow Serpent:Crunch Writeup:
PL15/300pp. Urgrund the Rainbow Serpent is, to the aborigines, the creator; the highest of gods. She made all things, they say. They are wrong, of course, but it doesn't change the fact that Urgrund is immensely powerful.

A rainbow-colored "dragon", Urgrund is the creation of the Stonebuilders, an alien species now long-gone from the universe. Taking an aborigine woman and placing her consciousness inside a Stonebuilder's body, her makers intended Urgrund to be a bridge between human and Stonebuilder. But an unknown calamity forced the Stonebuilders to abandon Earth and never return; now, Urgrund's fate is her own to decide.

Urgrund is a serpentine brick of great power, but with a crippling weakness: for every hour spent awake, the Rainbow Serent must sleep for an entire year. This extreme lethargy gave rise to the aborigine belief in a "Dreamtime".

Urgrund, the Rainbow Serpent wrote:"IF ONE LISTENS LONG ENOUGH AND WITH ENOUGH DILLIGENCE, THEN ALL THINGS BECOME CLEAR."

Here there be dragons...

Though built on signicantly more than 150pp, Urgrund's crippling lethargy more than balances things out.

New Zealand:The Feathered Moth:Crunch Writeup:
PL0/40pp. The Feathered Moth is the only known genuinely human psychic on Earth. Able to project her consciousness forth in the form of a neon-purple, bizarrely feathered solid moth, this Maori wise-woman is pretty tame, as far as superhumans go. Nevertheless, Maori often travel travel for hundreds of miles to confer with the old woman, so power may not be what makes the Feathered Moth so noticeable.

The Feathered Moth wrote:"You have payment? Yes? Then I may See for you.

Not every greatly revered psychic is a bad-ass. Some, like the Feathered Moth, are essentially helpless in a fight.

The Multicolored Beast:Crunch Writeup:
PL10/150pp. It came to this pale blue dot, third from its sun, to understand individuality, self, and being. It was part of a whole, but it desired now to be whole unto itself. It had neither gender nor form, nor a name of its own. But it saw the monkeys on the tiny blue dot had such things, so it extruded itself down the dimensional stack. It merged with a human host, blending body and soul perfectly. What resulted from this cosmic fusion was a beautiful creature, elegant and extraordinarily long-limbed, with brightly colored plumage and a beak in place of a mouth. Calling itself the Multicolored Beast, this amalgamated entity may control color and texture with a touch---it's own, or that of others. The Multicolored Beast has taken a liking to the Feathered Moth, and so it protects her with its very life.

The Multicolored Beast wrote:"You talking monkeys are so strange."

Every supers setting needs at least one 'WTF' character; I feel the Multicolored Beast fills this niche especially well!

-//-\\-

The Middle East:The Devil-King, He-who-is-from-Irem:Crunch Writeup:
PL9/133pp (with a mundane human body). Evil can have power, too. Evil can have immense power. Such is the case with He-who-is-from-Irem. The oldest superhuman alive, older even that the long-forgotten Mu, He-who-is-from-Irem likely is the figure that inspired the Christian Devil.

Iren was an old city, very old, and is mentioned in the Quran as a place of immense evil smote to ruin by God's will. The city's reputation for wickedness came from its nameless, quasi-immortal ruler.

The Devil-King of Irem was a mere man...once. Then he found the camp of a sleeping god and stole the god's staff. The staff ate the man's soul, and regurgitated it back up as black as sin. Now able to possess whomever took the staff, the Devil-King built a place of dark power and called it Irem.

In Irem, the Devil-King made black pacts with entities from the depths f his own twisted people's minds and gained great power. He ruled with a wicked will and committed atrocities as it pleased him. Even afte Irem's destruction, the Devil-King endured, the staff taking by the triumphant leader of Irem's destroyers.

He-who-is-from-Irem is a moderate telekinetic and a skilled telepath, but none can resist possession by him if they take up the staff. All the evil the Devil-King has accomplished, all the horrifying deeds, have been done with but a smattering of superpowers. One day, however, a Starborn will come into possession of the staff...and then the world may well burn for an ancient psychic parasite's amusement!

The Devil-King, He-who-is-from-Irem wrote:"How amusing. I am older than any god of men, and I see no Heaven. Only Hell."

His staff, by the way, is Ancient technology, now outlawed in the Great Imperium, and is the ONLY Device to be found on Earth...!

-//-\\-

North America:
America:The Sleeping Toad and the Dreaming Frog:Crunch Writeup:
Long ago, a great toad and a great frog had an argument. No one knew what the argument was about. It's a bit irrelevant, at this point. The fact was, they had an argument, and it turned violent; both toad and frog tried to eat each other: both died. A single entity in two bodies. Placeholder.

Canada:Wendigo:Crunch Writeup:
PL11/151pp. Cold. So cold. So hungry. Will I be full, now? Will I be warm, now? Is this blood and terror enough to fill me up? No. It never is.

I cannot remember the beginning. There was no beginning---just the hunger and the damnable cold. Everywhere, cold.

Where has everyone gone? Why has everyone left? Did I... Did I... No. No! They're out there...somewhere. I did not eat them. I did not eat them. I... Did I? Then why am I so cold? Why...?

I don't remember who I am. Where am I?

It doesnt matter...it doesn't matter.

I'm so hungry...

Wendigo is dead. Wendigo is also hungry. A man ate fish and drank water tainted by a meteorite; he died and rose a sentient, non-infectious zombie. Driven to eat meat and hibernate during the summer months, Wendigo has entered the mythologies of the First Nations, a hungry demon lusting to gorge himself on the flesh of the recently dead: a super-cannibal, in other words.

Wendigo wrote:"So...HUNGRY...!"

A zombie. Yes, a zombie.

-//-\\-

The Polynesian Islands:The Destroyer:Crunch Writeup:
PL12/190pp. Beneath the sea is fire. This fire makes the world live, and seethe, and breathe. Long ago, a second genuinely natural psychic died on the islands of Hawaii, and his soul "fell", landing amidst this sea of fire. The man's ghost wrapped the fire around his ectoplasmic body and...he became the fire. Wreathing himself in a new body made of fire, magma and immense pressure, he returned to the surface...explosively. Hawaii was incinerated in a massive volcanic blast, and everyone thereupon died.

But only for a time. That which the Destroyer consumes, the Destroyer can recreate. He vomited up his old people, this time changed. Fire could no longer harm them. They had obsidian for skin. They could subsist off ash and rock.

But...they could no longer leave their island homes. Feeling guilty for inadvertently bringing about this calamitous catastrophe, the Destroyer has stayed with his people, bestowing his miracles at their command. He is their servant, his eternal service his penance.

The Destroyer wrote:"Fire destroys...but it also builds."

A Polynesian take on the Human Torch...or maybe Firestorm. The Destroyer has the Reversible Extra on all of his pyrokinesis, meaning what he burns to ashes he can easily restore to perfect condition.

-//-\\-

South America:
The Mayans:Osidian:Crunch Writeup:
PL13/287pp. Beat the drums; dance the dances; sing the songs: Osidian is with us, and he must feed. Long ago, Osidian came from the mountains, with the blackest of skin and eyes that shined like the moon, maca in hand, blood on his face. He conquered us and made us civilized, and for this we worship him. But we owe him, for this gift. We him our very lifeforce: our blood---so it shall be.

Osidian is a paragon; even he is not sure where his powers come from. In theory, Osidian could be the equal of much-fabled Michael Archangel...theoretically: for, you see, Osidian must "feed" off of the lifeforce of human sacrifices to maintain his godlike power.

And simple murder is not enough. It must be ritualized, coupled with prayer and ceremony. And furthermore, it must be someone other than Osidian who performs the killings. Osidian runs out of power quickly; as he is not a Starborn, his physiology handles the absorption of energy poorly and inefficiently. So, to remain strong...---the blood must flow. The blood must flow.

What is Osidian? No one (even Osidian!) is entirely clear. He is no Starborn. His family lineage is unremarkable. His children...and he has many...have no superpowers, themselves. Furthermore, no alien DNA is mixed with his. So...he is an enigma, even to himself.

Osidian wrote:"Die for me!"

Yes, on average Osidian is considerably more powerful than PL10/150pp, and yes, Osidian is an evil Supermanalogue. But...his overwhelming power is completely dependent on regular ritual murder by a dedicated priesthood. Stop the sacrifice, and Osidian's vast power starts to wither and quickly...

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